Friday, January 15, 2010

Muslims sue CAIR for fraud

Two civil lawsuits filed by Muslims alleging criminal fraud were served today against the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a self-described Muslim civil-rights group that has been named an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator by the Justice Department.

The cases filed in federal court in the nation's capital assert the D.C.-based CAIR was aware that its "resident attorney" and "manager for civil rights" at its now-defunct Maryland-Virginia chapter, Morris Days, was not an attorney and failed to provide legal services for Muslims who came to CAIR for help.

The complaint alleges CAIR purposefully conspired with Days to keep the clients from discovering that their legal matters were being mishandled or not handled at all, according to attorney David Yerushalmi, who is representing the five plaintiffs, three of whom are Muslims.

"CAIR has engaged in a massive criminal fraud in which literally hundreds of CAIR clients have been victimized, and because of the CAIR cover-up, they still don't realize it," Yerushalmi said. "The fact that CAIR has victimized Muslims and non-Muslims alike demonstrates that CAIR is only looking out for CAIR and its ongoing effort to bilk donors out of millions of dollars of charitable donations thinking they are supporting a legitimate organization."

During that period, the younger Gaubatz made audio and video recordings and took some 12,000 pages of documents destined for a shredder in an attempt, he said, to expose the group's ties to Islamic jihad and terrorism. Key evidence has been published in the book "Muslim Mafia," published by WND Books. His father is a former Air Force special agent with extensive Middle East experience who researches the spread of radical Islam in the U.S. and its threat to national security.

The two new lawsuits follow a previous suit centered on Days that alleged CAIR's fraudulent conduct amounted to racketeering, under federal RICO statutes. A court dismissed the RICO counts, concluding CAIR's conduct as alleged was fraudulent but not a technical violation of RICO. The plaintiffs in that case have appealed and are awaiting the circuit court's briefing schedule, Yerushalmi said.

The two new federal civil complaints were filed Jan. 6 in the federal district court for the District of Columbia.

The complaints say that according to CAIR internal documents, there were hundreds of victims of the fraud scheme.

The suits contend CAIR knew or should have known Days was not a lawyer when it hired him. Further, when CAIR officials were confronted with evidence of Days' fraudulent conduct, the complaints say, they conspired to conceal the fraud.

CAIR, the complaints assert, suggested Days was never actually employed by CAIR and concealed the fact CAIR had fired him once some of the victims began threatening to sue.